Returning a Favor
by outlaw author
Summary: [MOONLIGHT]  Based on the previews for the third episode 'Fever,' so it could end up being AU. 'Beth realized that there was just one question she needed to ask herself:  did she trust Mick'  ONESHOT


**Title:** Returning a Favor

**Author:** outlaw author

**Word Count:** 646

**Rating:** T just in case, for mentioned vampire-ness

**TV Show:** Moonlight

**Disclaimer:** I claim to own nothing except what little plot there is to this fic.

**Summary: **Based on the previews for the fourth episode, "Fever," so it could end up being AU. _"Beth realized that there was just one question she needed to ask herself: did she trust Mick?"_ ONESHOT

* * *

**Returning a Favor**

outlaw author

_for my sister - funny what we've got in common now, isn't it? hey sis, please read and review!_

Beth had had a bad feeling about this case of Mick's from the start. There hadn't been any rational reason for her misgivings at all; just a desperate clenching in her gut when he had mentioned it that told her that something was going to go wrong. Call it a woman's intuition, a reporter's instinct – whatever it was, that was why she had insisted on accompanying him, hesitating to tell him her reason, knowing that Mick would cave eventually; he could never deny her anything. She had just _known_ that something bad was going to happen…

And now she knew what it was.

Beth had watched as for days straight, the sun – ironically life-giving to so many others – cruelly sapped Mick's strength and drained him of his healing abilities. She had watched helplessly as his once healthy, vital body slowly wasted away, becoming sick and weak, even as his determination to continue on remained strong. She watched as he became frail, unable to stand – let alone walk – without her support and as his once handsomely smooth, pale skin turned dry, cracked and sallow. She knew she was watching him die…

And it frightened her more than anything.

For as long as she had known him, Beth had held an idealized vision of Mick as her savior – that of someone indestructible, invincible. Learning that he was a vampire had just enhanced that image, once she had gotten over the shock. Even after seeing the effects of silver poisoning and a wooden stake, she hadn't been able to bring herself to believe that he could ever be seriously injured. Now that superstition was shattered, and she had to face up to reality.

She couldn't believe that it had taken her this long to think of a way to help him, though!

And that was why Beth was pacing anxiously back and forth, wearing a hole in the floor of the hotel they had miraculously stumbled, quite literally, upon. It may have been a grungy, pathetic, decrepit place, but just then it was a blessing for the pair of them, and she wasn't going to complain. Besides, she was a little too distracted at the moment to notice dirty sheets, dusty windowsills or strangely-stained ceilings.

_Should she or shouldn't she?_ – the debate raged back and forth in Beth's head even as her body did the same in the confined space of the room. She couldn't deny that offering her blood up to a vampire freaked her out more than a little, even as she mentally berated herself for being a coward. This wasn't just any vampire, after all – it was _Mick_. Mick – who continuously put others' lives ahead of his own, of which this case was a perfect example. Mick – whose code of honor she so admired. Mick – who had saved her own life twice already.

With a start, Beth realized that there was just one question she needed to ask herself: did she trust Mick?

And the answer was wholly, unreservedly Yes.

Beth glanced somewhat apprehensively at the door behind whose thin board and squeaky hinges lay Mick, soaking in ice cold water in the bathroom tub. Now that she had conquered her own mind, the only opposition left to overcome would be his. She hoped that just this one time his honor code wouldn't cause problems for him, but she knew he was likely to fight her decision. She hoped his trust in her was equal to her trust in him, because no matter what he said to try to dissuade her, she was going to make sure that he got what he needed to survive – her blood. Besides, he could never deny her anything, right?

_After all,_ she thought as she strode confidently into the bathroom, _he's already saved my life twice. Isn't it time I returned the favor?_

_

* * *

_

**A/N:** Well, what do you think? I live for reviews!!


End file.
